


Pink Bioluminescence

by LightningLemonade



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Epic fluff, Fluff, M/M, Mention of Bondage, Mild hurt, and pink bioluminescence, awkward nerds, brief mention of Hermann's mother, cute moments, massive comfort, somewhat sick-fic?, very mild BDSM
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-21
Updated: 2016-02-21
Packaged: 2018-05-22 08:15:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,722
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6071793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LightningLemonade/pseuds/LightningLemonade
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hermann's asleep, and Newt's preparing a surprise for the 14th.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pink Bioluminescence

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AnnetheCatDetective](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnnetheCatDetective/gifts).



> I'M SO SORRY ANNE THAT THIS IS SO LATE.
> 
> I blame work and a cold. D: Anyway, my entry for the K-Sci Prom, for AnneTheCatDetective - I hope you enjoy the fluff-fest to come. <3

Twenty or so years of having research materials, eighteen years of working in a laboratory and over five years sharing one with Hermann, and still Newt had trouble keeping track of his things.

It was three in the morning, a month after Pitfall. Newton Geiszler's attempting to organise the mess of paperwork he's left neglected for several weeks. Sheets are everywhere - under equipment, in the samples freezers, even on top of Hermann's monitors.

He may be suffering a minor headache, occasional spontaneous nosebleeds, fainting, but he was totally capable of hunting down these papers! Better now while Hermann's asleep than irritating the physicist. Not that he did that so much now, more like provoke into kissing...anyway, sooner all the papers are found, sooner he can set up everything for _that_ day. Hermann was going to love this! Well, he hoped.

A stray paper on the top of Hermann's chalkboards was Newt's downfall - even on the ladder, Newt just couldn't _quite_ reach it, fingertips brushing against it but not quite grabbing it.

Straining up on tip-toes on the topmost rung, the little biologist grasped at the paper, only to touch...nothing? When did he grow claws? No, those are definitely fingers. Human fingers.

Oh, it wasn't paper. There was nothing there...hallucinations after being awake seventeen hours is rare, they're usually at the thirty fourth hour, going on past experience. The lack of a tail was throwing him off as well, normally he had one, right? No, no he didn't.

...Huh. Everything felt...a little off. Surely the world wasn't quite at this slanted angle? Or so bright.

Newt had already passed out before he hit the ground.

\--

Fortune would have it that someone was keeping a vague eye on the security feeds of K-Science. Tendo Choi had little else to do now that the breach was shut, just keep the Shatterdome running while the PPDC, UN and other organizations decide what to do with the place.

Camera watching and filling in the paperwork that Marshall Hansen doesn't have the ability to face yet were his biggest duties.

Which is where Tendo is now - sat in LOCCENT with a coffee pot, a stack of forms and a monitor displaying the camera feed for the K-Lab.

He smiles at the frantic dashing of Newt across the lab. At least he wasn't the only one still up.

Downing the last of his god-knows-what numbers of coffee, Tendo grabs the topmost sheet of paper.

After completing the staff transfer form he picked up, he glanced over at the screen showing the feed near Hermann's chalkboard. _Huh, strange. Looks like Newt's fallen asleep on the floor again._ Tendo muses over the pile of paper and shrugs internally. _I can take a break to drag Newt to somewhere more comfortable._

Knees clicking as he stretches out of his chair, Tendo strolls down to the lab near the basement. Skipping out on the lift and going down the stairs, he muses on how many times he's had to do this for Newt - far too many to count, but one more for old times sake isn't so bad, really. Especially if Hermann's asleep, like most sensible people at this time.

Hefting the lab door open, Tendo's shocked to see what he couldn't on the security feed - the sheen of sweat over Newt, the blood trickling out of his nose and the bright flush over his cheeks. Tendo's fingers immediately started running over his rosary beads, counting away his sudden anxiety burst.

While moving Newt into the recovery position, Tendo's second shock came from Hermann bursting into the lab, yelling Newt's name.

\--

Hermann woke from a pleasant hazy sleep to the unrelenting feeling that something was wrong. His connection to Newt, the ghost-drift that never quite wore off, felt different to normal - not the complete feeling as of late, but muted. Fuzzy, almost.

Dragging pre-sleep memories back to the forefront of his mind, Hermann realised that Newt must be in the lab. The errant biologist did say something about tidying up while he slept. Yawning, Hermann tried to stretch until he remembered he was rather...constricted. 

A long time ago, Hermann discovered that the easiest way to fall asleep was to be bound by rope, or similar materials. Preferably by someone else, whom he trusted implicitly. That bit was a rarity, but most recently - he had someone. His erratic lab partner, friend of over twelve years, Drift Partner and now...boyfriend? Partner? One of those terms. They'll settle on the right term someday.

Hermann twisted the soft cord keeping his wrists held together, to give himself easy access to the knots. Teaching Newton the proper quick release mechanisms was a godsend - as much as Hermann would like to rely on Newton to release him promptly, that man could sleep through anything.

Muted fuzz. White noise was all that occupied the Newton-sized hole in his mind and Hermann did not like it one bit. He tugged at the loop that held the knot together with his teeth, pulling his wrists apart and out of the binding as soon as it was loose enough. Throwing on a dressing gown and slipping his shoes on, Hermann grabbed his cane and dashed out of the room as fast as he could, hip pain be damned. 

The lab. Newton was most likely there. 

Closer he got to their shared workspace, the louder the white noise in his head got.

Next thing Hermann knew, he was in the lab, his hip blazed with pain and he was pretty sure he'd been yelling Newton's full name for the last two corridors.

Tendo was there, looking panicked and pale, while Newt was passed out on the floor - feverish and dripping blood.

Hermann stopped, panting and leaning heavily on his cane. "Newton, Newton, what the hell have you done?"

\----

White. That's all he could see and all he could smell - sterile white of the medical bay.

Wait, the medical bay?

Newt shot up, quickly discovering that was a bad idea on several fronts - first: it made him really dizzy. Second, he jolted the IV in his arm which brought on a fresh wave of nausea and last of all he startled the other two occupants of the room.

"Newt what the-" "bloody hell were you doing?" "You know you're a health risk-" "due to drifting twice in 24 hours with an alien hive mind, ONCE BY YOUR-BLOODY-SELF!"

Newt blinked, bewildered. Tendo & Hermann double-teaming him was rare. He must have _really_ screwed up for both to be yelling at him in tandem.

"Uh...I'm sorry? I lost track of time, I guess. What happened to me anyway?" Newt looked at the pale, dishevelled pair - one in pyjamas and the other with his bow tie highly out of place. _Shiiiit._

Tendo slumped down onto one of the visitor's chairs. "Unsure, brother. But you were bleeding out your nose when I found you. Residual neural overload? I dunno. We hauled your ass to medical as soon as Hermann stopped freaking out."

Hermann shot a glare in Tendo's direction. "I was not 'freaking out', I was...concerned. Newton's brains don't need to leak out any more than they have."

Tendo waved Hermann off flippantly. "Yeah yeah, whatever. At least Newt's awake now. I better get back to LOCCENT - the place isn't going to run itself just yet." and there he went, ruffling Newt's hair before Tendo exited the room.

"Ssssso..."

Hermann hissed in pain as he readjusted his seating position. " _Bärchen_ , I don't care what you were doing. I'm more concerned that you collapsed. What happened?"

Newt shrugged. "All I remember is trying to tidy up the lab to prepare for my Valentine's Day treat for you and I fell off your ladder."

Hermann raised an eyebrow. "Valentine's...Day? You were doing something for me for Valentine's Day?"

"Duh, dude." Newt grinned nervously. "Gotta do something good for my _lieber Schatz_ , right?"

"Ah. Well. Err. Carry on, once you've been cleared from medical. I'll stay out of the lab until you require my presence." 

\---

Newt was released from medical eventually - and of course resumed work doing up the lab for his surprise.

Hermann, having been ordered to stay in his room until he's called for, spends a calm hour or so organising his flood of correspondence - digital and otherwise. Congratulations, job offers, condemnations...they're receiving it all and more. Hermann was absorbed in a report on the new uses for Drift technology when his little-used phone buzzed and emitted a dinosaur roar.

_Get your ass to the lab._

Hermann rolled his eyes, but did as he was told. Couldn't leave his _Bärchen_ waiting now.

\---

The lab was warm and lit in bioluminescence - not the usual pulsing blue, but...pink. Pink. And there was a faint scent of tea in the air. Earl Grey. 

Newt leaned on a nearby desk - dressed in his usual fare (with a less acid/blood/unnamed fluid stained shirt) - holding an arm out. "Leave your cane, du- _Schatz_. I kinda, wanna be your support today."

Hermann felt his face burn in...adoration? Fear? Love? He wasn't sure, but he liked it. Carefully placing his cane in the holder he built onto one of his workstations, he placed his hand on Newton's arm. Newton always felt stronger than he expected - then again, Hermann thought, one of them did have to transport heavy samples on a regular basis and it certainly wasn't himself.

There was a definite comfort in Newton's strength though. Reliably built, not for brawling, but for understanding. Hermann liked that.

Catching the even stronger scent of tea under his nose, Hermann finally noticed what Newton had in store for him, this February 14th. Behind the chalkboards, Newton had managed to arrange a proper afternoon tea - cakes, tea, biscuits, the lot. Something he'd not had the pleasure of in fifteen years.

"I uh, I remembered you said in your letters, back when we actually got on the first time, that you used to do this with your mom every week and it never felt right after she died. Kinda hoped it might at least be a...thing? That you'd like? That we could do together, at least once?"

The crushing kiss the small biologist was on the receiving end of told him that yes, this was a good idea.

**Author's Note:**

> So for pet German names I may have looked at this article: http://www.dw.com/en/10-german-nicknames-to-call-your-sweetheart/g-17860076 and I may have got the idea that Hermann may call Newton Bärchen because - if you are also a Newton-tummy-appreciator: that man has gotta be epic to hug.
> 
> In contrast, Newt can't help but call Hermann Schatz because to use anything but an older term of enderment for the math grandpa is just not right.


End file.
